Just-in-time manufacturing is a popular method of controlling inventory costs. Just-in-time manufacturing delivers a product from a product manufacturer to a customer just at the time the customer needs the product. This technique is applied across a wide range of products and can be applied against bulk materials as well as specialty items. These products may be produced at one location and transported to a distant location.
In the case of bulk materials, a shipment is tailored for the most efficient mode of travel, making the use of a railcar or multiple railcars a likely option. A railcar is not only a suitable container for shipment, but the railcar also satisfies the requirement for storage since the railcar approximates the size of a suitable storage vessel capable of holding a vast amount of product. Customers often take delivery of a railcar and hold the railcar on their site for storage purposes, tapping the railcar and removing the product only when required for manufacture.
Such use of railcars causes logistical problems for the product manufacturer. The customer may hold empty or partially empty railcars and return the railcars at the customer's convenience. The product manufacturer will not realize that the railcars are partially empty until the railcars are returned, incurring further costs by taking the railcar off-line for emptying and cleaning when contamination may be an issue. Since the manufacturer must anticipate these situations, the manufacturer will ensure that there are an inflated number of railcars at its disposal resulting in extra capital costs.
Although the railway companies monitor and know the location of the railcars through proprietary systems such as the Lat-Lon® tracking system, there is no affirmative system, for example, that alerts the railway company, the product manufacturer or the customer, that a railcar is sitting in one location for an extended period of time, even when that railcar is empty at a customer's site.
Therefore, a need exists for an integrated Telematics system to provide the information technology to assist in monitoring and managing the railcars to provide an optimum flow of product from the manufacturer to the customer.